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The
Seduction Of
Misty Mundae
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U.S.A.
/ 2004
Directed by Michael Raso
Starring
Misty Mundae
Julian Wells
Allanah Rhodes
Color / 83 Minutes / Not Rated
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC / 2-disc set)
E.I./Seduction Cinema
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10 |
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10
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Arguably
the first bona fide cult screen siren of the DVD
age, Misty Mundae is not the conventional B-movie
babe of yore. She isn't a surgically enhanced
blonde bimbo with an ass you could bounce quarters
off of. I find her reminiscent of Swedish sex
starlet Marie Liljedahl,
only with a retro 'hippy chick' sensibility...
Just because she has the face of an angel doesn't
mean she wouldn't twist up a killer 'J'. (The
weed, of course, would be primo.) Fans of this
sexy, talented actress will certainly want to
see her in this latest E.I./Seduction Cinema release,
an early starring role that sat on the shelf for
almost four years.
Misty
plays (no surprise
here) "Misty",
a depressed and uncommunicative teenager who's
come to scenic Pompton Lakes, New Jersey to stay
a week with her hip,
twentysomething
Aunt Inga (Julian
Wells). That first
night she accidentally stumbles upon Inga
masturbating. Unnoticed,
Misty continues to watch, becoming aroused...
and confused. Next morning Inga breaks the ice
with the awkward teen by taking her on a shopping
excursion, after which comes the inevitable try-it-on-at-home
"fashion show" montage. (Here, at least,
the gals are seen slipping in and out of normal
street clothes; were this a Fred Olen Ray film
it would all miraculously
be lingerie.) Gradually
Misty opens up to Inga, seeking her advice and
opinions on matters of sex. A virgin, Misty is
naive and innocent to say the least; she's never
even really been on a date before. Her poor self
esteem is matched only by her admiration —
and fascination —
with Inga's worldly confidence.
For her part Inga is very understanding, even
as the questions become increasingly
personal. She encourages Misty to explore her
own body and seek pleasure with others, to find
out what she likes and doesn't
like. After Misty's disappointing date with the
boy next door, she shows the girl how to pleasure
herself. Further questions lead Inga to confide
that she's bisexual, and she grants Misty's request
to let her watch as she and her lover (Allanah
Rhodes) get it on.
Aunt
Inga doesn't yet know that Misty has been having
steamy lesbian fantasies about her. But that's
okay — it turns out
she's not really related to Misty. She and Misty's
mom are just close friends. (And ex-lovers?) Before
the week is over, Misty and Inga will forge a
bond that's physical as well as emotional...
Director
Michael Raso's self-styled "coming-of-age
dramatic fantasy", while very nicely lensed
for such a small DTV feature, just wouldn't work
if not for the performances of Mundae and Wells.
With only seven actors in the entire cast (only
three of which have speaking parts), the movie
pretty much rests on their supple shoulders. Besides
being quite uninhibited in the sex scenes, Wells
strikes the right balance with her character;
Inga comes off as genuinely concerned and caring,
not as some decadent nympho taking advantage of
a naive teenager. Mundae, in her early 20s when
the film was made but who could easily pass for
16 or 17, is totally believable as an inexperienced
girl on the threshold of womanhood, eager to explore
her sexuality — even
if some of the situations she finds herself in
exist (for the most part) only in the realm of
softcore erotica. She has a lot of tight close-ups;
the reactions in her expressive eyes and on her
angelic face tell us more about what her character
is thinking and feeling than any dialog ever could.
(She's great at faking an orgasm, too.)
Shot
in 2001 but not assembled into a completed film
until some three years later, The
Seduction Of Misty Mundae turned out to
be a prescient move on the part of E.I. honcho
Raso. Not just wanting to take the director's
chair as a change of pace from running the company,
Raso desired to make a more serious erotic film
whose tone would contrast sharply with the fetish
horrors and fluffy softcore spoofs E.I. was becoming
known for. The production marked the first time
Mundae and Wells ever worked together; right from
the start the ladies demonstrated an onscreen
rapport that would serve E.I. well in future films
such as Dr.
Jekyll & Mistress Hyde and Lust
For Dracula. And four years ago Mundae was
only just emerging as a fan favorite. Now, with
the release of the film on DVD, her worshippers
can see her in a very intimate dramatic role from
the early phase of her career.
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Letterboxed at 1.78:1 and
16x9 enhanced, E.I./Seduction Cinema's DVD looks
and sounds great — don't
expect to encounter any of the A/V issues typically
associated with microbudget DTV features. An audio
commentary with Raso, recorded in the summer of
2004, largely avoids technical details, instead
focusing on his inspirations, working with Mundae
and Wells, and the aesthetics of erotic cinema.
(Tony Marsiglia, editor of the film and a director
in his own right, serves as moderator and sounding
board.) A trio of brief featurettes provides behind-the-scenes
glimpses of the production, to include a promotional
photo shoot with Julian Wells disrobing in an
autumnal outdoor setting. A ragged-looking black
and white "Retro Seduction" stag short
from the 1960s, tossed in as a bonus, features
a woman doing a striptease while puffing on a
cigarette. Almost all the E.I./Seduction Cinema
discs I've seen to date have been stuffed to the
gills with trailers but this time out a somewhat
smaller roster of promos is offered, limited strictly
to Misty Mundae titles. Along with trailers for
Seduction Of Misty Mundae,
Roxanna
and Lust For Dracula
are previews for the forthcoming Erotic
Diary Of Misty Mundae, Chantal
and Sinful.
I was pleasantly surprised
to find a second disc in the package, which was
not advertised. As with E.I.'s edition of Dr.
Jekyll & Mistress Hyde, Disc 2 is an
audio CD of the eclectic soundtrack (by The Pink
Delicates, a two-man group that includes the film's
co-writer). Not only are musical cues from Seduction
Of Misty included, but also tracks from
the yet-to-be-released Curious
Obessions.
9/20/05
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